View Full Version : Ruth's Creole Kitchen (formerly Play Cafe)



Pete
05-13-2019, 09:48 AM
Play Cafe planned for Uptown District (https://www.okctalk.com/content.php?r=613-Play-Cafe-planned-for-Uptown-District)

A new restaurant is proposed for the Uptown / 23rd Street District that will be aimed towards families with children.


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/playcafe2.jpg


The building at 610 NW 23rd had previously been home to a pawn shop before being purchased by local investor and developer Jeff Johnson.

The property was cleaned up and slightly remodeled and a Dallas-based spin studio signed a lease (https://www.okctalk.com/content.php?r=393-Dallas-company-to-bring-blend-of-spinning-and-Zen-to-Uptown), but then later backed out.


From their design application:

“Play Cafe is Oklahoma's first cafe + play space where the whole family feels welcomed, cared for, and catered to. They encourage their patrons to expect more from family friendly. The Owner's desire is that this philosophy is extended beyond the interior and food and is played out on the exterior of the building in a simple mural and signage that would help draw people in. The space will be a sophisticated cafe and dining experience in the front half and a custom children's play area and storage in the back half. In the back of the property, there will be an outdoor play experience for the children as well. IN the front there will be a new railing added to the existing concrete pad.”

Gardner Architects is performing the design work and Elizabeth Howard is the tenant and concept owner.


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/playcafe5.jpg

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/playcafe3.jpg

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/playcafe4.jpg

DoctorTaco
05-13-2019, 10:21 AM
While I have never seen this concept made explicit, I have seen nicer restaurants in other cities that made an effort to create a family-friendly space, The closest thing in OKC is the outdoor structure at the Wedge Pizzeria on Western. As much as some people without kids dread seeing a kid in a restaurant, the agony of having your kid melt down in a "normal" restaurant is a horror no parent wishes to have either. It can be really nice to have a "safe space" where kids being kids is acceptable but the food is also decent (does not have to be great). On the flip side The Garage has a really good kid's menu and a decently diverse adult menu (so it wins on the food front) but is in no way a nice place to bring a kid.

I think this place will be wildly successful. Mesta Park has a ton of people with both kids and money who want to eat out but don't want to have to resort to a McDonald's play land. A place where (1) Their kids like the food, (2) the adults like the food, (3) Kids can run around and allow the adults to have an adult conversation. And putting this place on 23rd where it is walkable from Mesta Park/HH but also driveable to everyone else in the Metro makes this a stupidly good location

Pete
05-13-2019, 10:31 AM
^

Yes, tons of young families now in the core.

Pete
06-29-2019, 10:01 AM
They have started construction and hope to be open this fall.

Mel
06-29-2019, 03:42 PM
While I have never seen this concept made explicit, I have seen nicer restaurants in other cities that made an effort to create a family-friendly space, The closest thing in OKC is the outdoor structure at the Wedge Pizzeria on Western. As much as some people without kids dread seeing a kid in a restaurant, the agony of having your kid melt down in a "normal" restaurant is a horror no parent wishes to have either. It can be really nice to have a "safe space" where kids being kids is acceptable but the food is also decent (does not have to be great). On the flip side The Garage has a really good kid's menu and a decently diverse adult menu (so it wins on the food front) but is in no way a nice place to bring a kid.

I think this place will be wildly successful. Mesta Park has a ton of people with both kids and money who want to eat out but don't want to have to resort to a McDonald's play land. A place where (1) Their kids like the food, (2) the adults like the food, (3) Kids can run around and allow the adults to have an adult conversation. And putting this place on 23rd where it is walkable from Mesta Park/HH but also driveable to everyone else in the Metro makes this a stupidly good location

Nicely stated.

TheirTheir
07-01-2019, 09:47 AM
Aurora's back patio is (was) a great space for families.

Pete
07-01-2019, 09:48 AM
http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/playcafe063019a.jpg

AP
11-21-2019, 09:36 AM
While I have never seen this concept made explicit, I have seen nicer restaurants in other cities that made an effort to create a family-friendly space, The closest thing in OKC is the outdoor structure at the Wedge Pizzeria on Western. As much as some people without kids dread seeing a kid in a restaurant, the agony of having your kid melt down in a "normal" restaurant is a horror no parent wishes to have either. It can be really nice to have a "safe space" where kids being kids is acceptable but the food is also decent (does not have to be great). On the flip side The Garage has a really good kid's menu and a decently diverse adult menu (so it wins on the food front) but is in no way a nice place to bring a kid.

I think this place will be wildly successful. Mesta Park has a ton of people with both kids and money who want to eat out but don't want to have to resort to a McDonald's play land. A place where (1) Their kids like the food, (2) the adults like the food, (3) Kids can run around and allow the adults to have an adult conversation. And putting this place on 23rd where it is walkable from Mesta Park/HH but also driveable to everyone else in the Metro makes this a stupidly good location

Very well said. My son doesn't usually have melt downs, but it will be very cool to have a place where he can play and we don't have to worry about bothering other families.

Richard at Remax
11-21-2019, 10:31 AM
I will say before I had kids, when I saw or heard kids in restaurants it really didn't bother me. Now that I do have a 2 and 4 year old, I make it a priority to a) not take them to nice places and B) leave if they do start to act up.

Since they are in fact kids, they do cry or make some noises sometimes. Trust me, I don't like it at all. However, some people get PISSED. Like visually disgusted lol. We're at chili's people, settle down.

Pete
11-21-2019, 10:42 AM
My issue with kids is that other than 21+ bars, is there nowhere where we don't have to deal with them?

For example, I was at the Parlor downstairs bar on a recent Saturday night and there were 4-5 families with small children camped out in the seating area there. Predictably, the kids were running all over the place, climbing on the furniture and all the parents were happy to let them do so.

I don't go to Chilli's and if I did I would not be surprised or upset to see this sort of behavior. But the Parlor bar at 8PM on a Saturday night? There is a strong trend for 'hip' groups of parents to bring little ones to urban spots and basically treat them like Chucky Cheese.

I like kids fine but there are literally thousands of places in OKC to take them... Can there be no refuge at all??

AP
11-21-2019, 10:50 AM
N/m

catch22
11-21-2019, 11:25 AM
My issue with kids is that other than 21+ bars, is there nowhere where we don't have to deal with them?

For example, I was at the Parlor downstairs bar on a recent Saturday night and there were 4-5 families with small children camped out in the seating area there. Predictably, the kids were running all over the place, climbing on the furniture and all the parents were happy to let them do so.

I don't go to Chilli's and if I did I would not be surprised or upset to see this sort of behavior. But the Parlor bar at 8PM on a Saturday night? There is a strong trend for 'hip' groups of parents to bring little ones to urban spots and basically treat them like Chucky Cheese.

I like kids fine but there are literally thousands of places in OKC to take them... Can there be no refuge at all??

Certainly not just Oklahoma City. I haven't noticed this in Denver as much, but down in Colorado Springs everywhere you go has kids running around. It really gets annoying. The Fuzzy's Tacos up here have their own full service bars (which are great and I wish the OKC stores had them). One night I was by myself enjoying a drink and watching TV when 3-4 kids came through the bar area running up and down the aisles. The bartenders didn't know how to handle it, another night a junior softball league was in there going up to every patron at the bar asking to buy stuff for a fundraiser. While Fuzzy's is certainly a family friendly venue, the bar area should not. Go to any craft breweries around here and usually tons of kids running around.

TheTravellers
11-21-2019, 11:49 AM
I will say before I had kids, when I saw or heard kids in restaurants it really didn't bother me. Now that I do have a 2 and 4 year old, I make it a priority to a) not take them to nice places and B) leave if they do start to act up....

Thank you for parenting right.

And I'm with Pete with his thoughts on kids...

DoctorTaco
11-21-2019, 12:38 PM
Thank you for parenting right.

And I'm with Pete with his thoughts on kids...

All of this is confirming the need for the Play Cafe concept.

TheTravellers
11-21-2019, 01:02 PM
All of this is confirming the need for the Play Cafe concept.

With dozens of locations, each with their own type of cuisine so many options are available. :)

Richard at Remax
11-21-2019, 03:22 PM
You also have to understand that some parents think their kids arent bad, but they are. Even worse when kids are acting up yet parents have head in clouds or on their phones. Even worse they brush it off as "kids being kids". That's just laziness. Time and place for kids, not the parlor at 8pm on Saturday. That's a d!ck move

TheTravellers
11-21-2019, 05:49 PM
You also have to understand that some parents think their kids arent bad, but they are. Even worse when kids are acting up yet parents have head in clouds or on their phones. Even worse they brush it off as "kids being kids". That's just laziness. Time and place for kids, not the parlor at 8pm on Saturday. That's a d!ck move

The first question here is a case of oblivious parents, loved the response when I read it a while back.

https://slate.com/human-interest/2019/09/kids-running-around-restaurants-care-and-feeding.html

Dear Care and Feeding,

My wife and I and our 4-year-old son were out to dinner last week. It was a medium-nice restaurant, not fast food, but not super fancy either. My son is a normal, active little boy, and it’s hard for him to sit through a whole dinner, so we let him explore the restaurant a little. I noticed our waitress giving him the hairy eyeball, so we asked him to stop running. He was pretty good about it after that, but he did get underfoot when she was carrying a tray, and she spoke to him pretty sharply to go back to our table and sit down. I felt it was completely uncalled for, and she should have come and spoken to us personally instead of disciplining someone else’s child.

I tipped 5 percent and spoke briefly to her manager, who gave noncommittal replies. My wife agrees with me, but when we posted about it on Facebook, we got a lot of judgy responses.

—It’s Hard for a 4-Year-Old to Sit Still

Dear Sit Still,

Yeah, this is your fault. It’s hugely your fault. Of course it’s hard for a 4-year-old to sit still, which is why people usually stick to fast-dining establishments while working on restaurant manners. It’s why one parent usually responds to a fidgety kid who wants to “explore” by taking him outside the restaurant, where he can get his wiggles out while not taking laps around servers precariously carrying trays of (often extremely hot) food and drink.

A kid “exploring” a restaurant is not a thing. When you did intervene, it wasn’t to get him back in his seat. It was just to instruct him to “stop running.” You weren’t parenting, so a server did it for you. She was right. You were wrong.

Your son is not ready to eat at a “medium-nice” restaurant again until he is capable of behaving a little better. You can practice at home. You can practice at McDonald’s. You can try a real restaurant again with the understanding that one of you may need to take him out when he starts getting the urge to run an obstacle course.

I doubt that you will do this, but I encourage you to return the restaurant, apologize to the manager for complaining about your server, and leave her a proper tip.

Mend your wicked ways.

HangryHippo
11-21-2019, 05:58 PM
Outstanding.

HOT ROD
11-22-2019, 12:20 AM
OKC just needs to up the antie on Adult Only entertainment and recreation businesses. No, I'm not talking about XXX (although OKC could use some more, high quality of that too), but I'm talking about upscale bars, lounges, and restaurants that AREN"T kid friendly.I have a kid but I know where to and NOT to bring him. He's 6 now, so not so much a little runner anymore but we only went to kid friendly places and even then I didn't let him run around crazy - that's what the play-yards are for. ...Maybe OKC just needs better Adult manners too?

Pete
11-22-2019, 07:29 AM
I believe both The Collective and Parlor say 'over 21 after X time' but I don't think they enforce it, just expect families to honor their wishes.

AP
11-22-2019, 08:21 AM
The Collective's website says 10 pm.

jerrywall
11-22-2019, 08:40 AM
I like to see some movie theaters move back to have adults only admitted after a certain times, at least for R rated movies. Although, I was talking to the wife about a need for an adults only screening of Frozen 2... :D

Jersey Boss
11-22-2019, 10:26 AM
I'd like to see some restricted hours for brewery tap rooms as well.

aDark
11-22-2019, 10:44 AM
I'd like to see some restricted hours for brewery tap rooms as well.

Yeah. I felt terrible chasing my 2-year-old around Elk Valley at their 1-year celebration. We decided going forward we are self-implementing a "no kids" at breweries rule for our household. Never again.

(sorry to anyone who may have been there)

Celebrator
11-22-2019, 10:59 AM
Self-awareness seems to be in short supply these days, but good for you, aDark, for seeing what happened and deciding to make a different move going forward. That kind of thinking is so refreshing...and selfless. That's what it is really all about...selflessness versus selfishness.

Pete
01-15-2020, 07:28 AM
The opened on Monday.

Hours: M-TH 7A-5:30P; FR-SU 7A-7P


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/playcafe011220a.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/playcafe011220b.jpg

Canoe
01-16-2020, 01:10 PM
Does this restaurant have a website with inside pictures?

Edmond Hausfrau
01-16-2020, 01:23 PM
Those are some odd hours. I'm guessing working parents are not their target audience. 5:30pm?

Pete
01-16-2020, 01:25 PM
I believe it's stay-at-home moms they are targeting.

One of their tag lines is "Remember when it was fun to leave the house?"

SEMIweather
01-16-2020, 08:57 PM
I believe it's stay-at-home moms they are targeting.

One of their tag lines is "Remember when it was fun to leave the house?"

That is...depressing

soonerguru
01-16-2020, 10:40 PM
I wish them....luck.

shawnw
01-17-2020, 10:54 PM
Worse case they've renovated a building that will make it easier to be more than a pawn shop down the line...

SEMIweather
01-18-2020, 12:09 AM
And honestly I think it's a good concept, just that their motto isn't exactly upbeat lol

Edmond Hausfrau
01-18-2020, 07:11 AM
They charge a fee for each kid you bring. At this point they may want to consider an exchange program with the new Bar K.
I'm really curious about their demographic research. It's not a Mother's day out program, you have to stay there with your kids. If you are a non-working parent who wants to get out of house and pay a fee for your kids to play while you eat lunch, I guess this is your mecca.
Nationally, 1 in 5 parents is not working outside of the home. And up to 50% of of those parents report that finances are part of the reason for staying home i.e. daycare too expensive, kids with special needs, etc.
Is there something I am missing? This seems like a very narrow population to be courting.

chuck5815
01-18-2020, 08:10 AM
Seems like the “per kid” fee would be a nice way to keep the number of kids down though. I certainly wouldn’t want to go in there if it is just teeming with kids.

seaofchange
01-21-2020, 04:07 PM
This is more-so a coworking type space that you can bring your kids to, not so much a restaurant that is kid friendly. And it makes sense. There are so many work at home parents and working at home is hard to do with a toddler begging you for snacks every 7 minutes.

They have been packed every day so far. I think it’s an amazing concept!

Edmond Hausfrau
01-21-2020, 09:44 PM
Ok, that makes sense. A co-working space that is child friendly. That would also explain the business hours. That's also a much larger demographic.

aDark
01-22-2020, 09:57 AM
Me and my wife took our kids (2-year-old and 11-week-old) to Play Cafe on Sunday. I like the concept. We'll definitely be back.

I think many of the comments above are coming from those without toddler-aged children. For us, this was a welcome reprieve from spending another weekend at the Science Museum. We love the Science Museum but when you're there for the third time in 3 weeks.... ugh. Oklahoma City is family friendly but it lacks a good number of indoor spaces to take kids who are too young to be entertained at a Dave and Busters type places. With Oklahoma weather being what it is, indoor spaces are crucial. Take a peek at the MetroFamily article on best indoor places to take kids in OKC and you'll see what I mean. Can't take a toddler to TopGolf, lol. https://www.metrofamilymagazine.com/ultimate-indoor-fun-guide/

This concept hit a sweet spot. It is kid-centric without feeling like a daycare. In fact, it feels more like a coffee shop than a play place. It also serves as third place* for young parents. When you're a young parent it's hard to meet people outside of work. Here, we found a bunch of other parents in their late 20s or 30s. It was nice to have our kid play in a controlled environment with kids his age who weren't from daycare. We made parent friends. We had nice coffee and tea. We had hummus and a charcuterie board. It was awesome. Altogether, I think we were there for almost an hour and a half. Our toddler loved it. We've already been making plans about meeting other parent friends for a play date and this is the obvious choice.

I do agree it is only going to appeal to a certain group of people. I imagine if your kid is over 5 then this place probably isn't for you. I also agree the hours aren't great. My wife and I both work so this place will probably only be a weekend spot for us. That said, I do think the number of stay-at-home moms in the core is pretty decent in size. I just wish they'd be open in the evenings and have a more complete food menu. I hate taking my kids to sit-down restaurants. That would be a home-run.

We follow their social media account and they do a good job of sending alerts when they are at capacity. They were at capacity most of the weekend, so I think they might be just fine. When I talked with the owner he explained that this concept exists in most large cities and they were perplexed how OKC didn't have one yet.

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_place

Pete
02-04-2020, 10:14 AM
Learn and chill (https://www.okgazette.com/oklahoma/learn-and-chill/Content?oid=6948434)
Play Cafe allows kids to learn and have fun while parents relax with healthy food and even booze.
BY JACOB THREADGILL

With a menu featuring items like avocado toast and grain bowls inside a modern and clean aesthetic, Play Cafe, 610 NW 23rd St., at first glance might be the next casual, comforting cafe to open in Uptown 23rd District.

https://media1.fdncms.com/okgazette/imager/u/blog/6948440/play_area.jpg?cb=1580227671

Owner Liz Howald’s favorite moments are when a child enters the family-focused cafe that features a huge play area, a quiet room and a backyard patio stocked with toys and books — but those items remain out of sight for the little ones.

“Watching kids come in, they don’t see the toys at first,” Howald said. “They’ll wander in and think, ‘It’s just another place that my mom or dad are taking me.’ Then they round that corner and they see the toys and their faces are amazing to watch light up.”

Howald has a background in education. She has done everything from teaching and curriculum development to teacher education. She’s taking those techniques and applying them to Play Cafe, which is modeled after similar concepts in larger cities in the U.S. and Europe.

Not only does Play Cafe offer coffee, tea, beer, wine and cocktails centered on a breakfast and lunch menu designed to offer healthy and tasty options that can be catered to dietary needs, it’s an immersive environment for kids to learn while they play.

“The idea came from desperation,” Howald said. “I have two kids of my own, a 4-year-old and a 6 and a half-year-old. There are a lot of great family-focused, kid-friendly places here, but they’re so very focused on the kid’s experience, and I wanted something where the adults were as happy and excited to go as much as the kids.”

Using the Montessori Model of Education as inspiration, the main play area is supervised by attendants that have passed an extensive background check and are trained to let kids gravitate toward certain toys and then help them engage in extension activities that are designed to have a learning element.

There are no battery-operated toys, no large plastic items. Play Cafe works with local retailers like Basal Baby, Plenty Mercantile and Commonplace Books as well as big-box retailers like Target.

“I like that [the Montessori approach recognizes] that children are capable of so much more than a lot of people give them credit for if you give them the space to try it, learn and fail,” Howald said. “They’re capable of more than what we allow them most of the time. It’s about [learning] life skills, but they feel like they’re playing as they learn to be independent individuals.”

Play Cafe opened in early January, so Howald said it’s still getting its footing before unveiling ongoing workshops. It will work with local groups like LAFF Lab, Storyteller Theatre Company and Homegrown Learning Company to host regular music classes, story time and craft experiences.

“We’re working on after-hours programing for parents too, like article club because who has time to read books when you have kids? There will be date night activities like wine and cheese pairings that will coincide with a kids activity so they don’t have to find a babysitter,” she said.

Food for thought
Howald said people are surprised to see Play Cafe’s menu doesn’t revolve around pizza and chicken fingers. She devised a menu based around some of her favorite items to make at home and worked with Chris Castro as a consultant to hone in on the flavors of the food and cocktail items.

For breakfast, Play Cafe offers pastry from local suppliers along with both sweet steel-cut oatmeal (baked apples with brown sugar, cinnamon and a maple pecan oatmeal square crumble) as well as savory (turkey sausage, cheddar, kale, sliced avocado and an egg). It also has a series of toasts made with everything from regular white bread to vegan and gluten-free versions.

Avocado toast also utilizes pancetta, lemony kale and egg topped with garlic-chipotle dust. The butternut squash toast tops the mash with Boursin cheese, maple pecan crumble and mint. The brûléed banana toast uses almond butter, brûléed bananas and a maple-pecan square, and Howald said it has been one of the most popular items.

Lunch is served until 2:30 p.m. The house vegetable soup has been popular during the early part of the year, but Howald’s favorite item is the grilled cheese with a three-cheese medley that includes Gruyère and goat cheese along with prosciutto, fig jam and basil.

It offers health-conscious items like lemony kale salad and harvest grain salad along with a chicken club toast and a vegetable and hummus toast.

Play Cafe has teas from neighboring Urban Teahouse along with coffee from Sincerely Coffee Roasters. Vanessa House Beer Co. and Coop Ale Works supply beer while wine and sparkling wine are available by the glass or the bottle. Cocktails include bloody marys and seasonal offerings like Cranberry Cheery with cranberry simple syrup, lemon, vodka and egg white.

Play Cafe remains open until 5:30 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and offers snack boards like a charcuterie board or a Cobb salad board, which is basically deconstructed salad. The space can be rented for after-hours birthday parties and private events.

Children are certainly not required to enjoy Play Cafe’s selections. Howald said people are already getting in the habit of grabbing a salad on their way to work.

“Families are primary focuses, but everyone likes and deserves great coffee and food. [We] want to be something casual, healthy and quick,” she said.

Gardner Studios converted Play Cafe from a former pawnshop that sat vacant for years and outfitted it with a clean and modern design. The Imes group installed the kitchen that has an open workspace and plenty of white tile.

“People worried about me using so much white in a restaurant, and I said, ‘The more we use, the cleaner we have to keep it,’” Howald said.

Neutral colors, which she said are in contrast to the bright and bombarding aspect of many establishments geared toward kids, were an important part of the design. Howald wants parents to be able to turn their back to the play area and relax.

“I’ve had moms hug me with tears in their eyes and say, ‘Thank you for bringing this to us,’” Howald said. “It’s been the most gratifying experience.”

Visit playcafeokc.com.

Zorba
02-06-2020, 09:23 PM
The first question here is a case of oblivious parents, loved the response when I read it a while back.

https://slate.com/human-interest/2019/09/kids-running-around-restaurants-care-and-feeding.html

Dear Care and Feeding,

My wife and I and our 4-year-old son were out to dinner last week. It was a medium-nice restaurant, not fast food, but not super fancy either. My son is a normal, active little boy, and it’s hard for him to sit through a whole dinner, so we let him explore the restaurant a little. I noticed our waitress giving him the hairy eyeball, so we asked him to stop running. He was pretty good about it after that, but he did get underfoot when she was carrying a tray, and she spoke to him pretty sharply to go back to our table and sit down. I felt it was completely uncalled for, and she should have come and spoken to us personally instead of disciplining someone else’s child.

I tipped 5 percent and spoke briefly to her manager, who gave noncommittal replies. My wife agrees with me, but when we posted about it on Facebook, we got a lot of judgy responses.

—It’s Hard for a 4-Year-Old to Sit Still

Dear Sit Still,

Yeah, this is your fault. It’s hugely your fault. Of course it’s hard for a 4-year-old to sit still, which is why people usually stick to fast-dining establishments while working on restaurant manners. It’s why one parent usually responds to a fidgety kid who wants to “explore” by taking him outside the restaurant, where he can get his wiggles out while not taking laps around servers precariously carrying trays of (often extremely hot) food and drink.

A kid “exploring” a restaurant is not a thing. When you did intervene, it wasn’t to get him back in his seat. It was just to instruct him to “stop running.” You weren’t parenting, so a server did it for you. She was right. You were wrong.

Your son is not ready to eat at a “medium-nice” restaurant again until he is capable of behaving a little better. You can practice at home. You can practice at McDonald’s. You can try a real restaurant again with the understanding that one of you may need to take him out when he starts getting the urge to run an obstacle course.

I doubt that you will do this, but I encourage you to return the restaurant, apologize to the manager for complaining about your server, and leave her a proper tip.

Mend your wicked ways.

As a parent of an almost 4 year old... I completely agree with this. So many parents are so lazy. My daughter has a ton of energy and likes running around, but that is not allowed at any restaurant*. She can sit through a 90 minute fancy dinner on cruise. If she starts getting loud we take her outside. When she went through a phase of getting up, we started getting high chairs for her and strapping her in. It is also amazing what a few toys, strikers and crayons can do for a kid. I can't believe the number of parents that bring nothing for their toddler to do, then zone out into their phones and then don't understand why the toddler isn't behaving.

That said, I go to Louie's every Wednesday for kids eat free and I very rarely see this kind of behavior. I think it is more common among hipster or younger parents.

*We generally will let her play on the ground before our food comes if we are eating outside on a patio, but make sure she isn't in the way and she stays in one spot unless we are the only ones out there. I will let her do walking "laps" in clothing shops as long as no one else is around and she isn't messing with the clothes.

Zorba
02-06-2020, 09:34 PM
This is pushing the Cafe side a bit more, but this sounds like a similar concept to Okie Kid's Playground in Edmond. They've been open for 3 years and seem to be doing fine.

Pete
08-24-2020, 12:20 PM
They have taken down their signs and are doing some sort of rebranding.

On social media, they are saying they aren't going anywhere, just making some changes.

Pete
08-26-2020, 03:09 PM
From their Instagram account:


Welcome to The Copley! The world (and our sign) might look a little different than it did when we opened in January, but our mission remains the same: We are here to provide our patrons with top-notch hand-crafted coffee, seasonal breakfast + lunch, and delicious cocktails, all in a safe, versatile space that caters to the diverse needs of our community. Need a place to study/work/homeschool while sipping on delicious @sincerelycoffeeroasters coffee or @urbanteahouse tea? We got you covered. Looking for a healthy breakfast or lunch option for here or on the go? Yep, we’ve got that. Weekend brunch sipping on @vanessahousebeerco @coopaleworks or @willandwiley? You know it. Interested in a private play date? Seven days a week, folks. Birthdays, micro weddings, and special events? Yes, yes, and yes. Outdoor patios (yes, two of them) and super social distanced indoor seating? You bet. While our kids area is closed to the public for the foreseeable future, we remain committed to being the most family friendly restaurant in OKC while providing next level food, drink, and customer service to everyone looking for a place to come together—safely—in these crazy times.

OkieBerto
07-10-2024, 10:01 AM
"Just Leased‼️ Prime location right off of 23rd will be home to a new restaurant concept! With great visibility and surrounding retailers… this will be a fun new spot for the 23rd community!"

19008

Pete
08-12-2024, 07:39 AM
The old Copley/Play Cafe spot will become Ruth's Creole Kitchen.

The chef has been running NOLA 54 Bistro in one of the Quail Springs office buildings.


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Jeepnokc
08-12-2024, 08:28 AM
Interesting that they would go in so close to Cajun Corner. Cajun Corner doesn't do breakfast though. Prices appear pretty competitive. Appear to be a little higher than Cajun Corner but CC has small portion sizes (which is great if small eater and don't want to waste food). Hopefully both will thrive here.

rte66man
08-12-2024, 09:36 AM
Interesting that they would go in so close to Cajun Corner. Cajun Corner doesn't do breakfast though. Prices appear pretty competitive. Appear to be a little higher than Cajun Corner but CC has small portion sizes (which is great if small eater and don't want to waste food). Hopefully both will thrive here.

Cajun Corner is mediocre at best. WAY too much breading on the fried shrimp.

rayvaflav
08-12-2024, 04:31 PM
Uh oh, Ghosts Of 23rd Street Past. This looks to be the same chef that had a hand in the former Alley Cafe/Rew Orleans/Alley Cafe Rew Orleans Cuisine/Alley Cafe Southern Cuisine saga that's been going on since 2018. https://www.okctalk.com/showthread.php?t=44212&highlight=rew+orleans

I would like for them to succeed, and I am hoping that though it's still on the menu, the muffaletta gets a new makeover. Remember this? 19081

ManAboutTown
08-13-2024, 08:55 AM
Uh oh, Ghosts Of 23rd Street Past. This looks to be the same chef that had a hand in the former Alley Cafe/Rew Orleans/Alley Cafe Rew Orleans Cuisine/Alley Cafe Southern Cuisine saga that's been going on since 2018. https://www.okctalk.com/showthread.php?t=44212&highlight=rew+orleans

I would like for them to succeed, and I am hoping that though it's still on the menu, the muffaletta gets a new makeover. Remember this?
19081

That looks...interesting. :(

bison34
08-13-2024, 09:43 AM
Thought this said Ruth's Chris, and got really excited. Lol

Thomas Vu
08-14-2024, 09:38 PM
Uh oh, Ghosts Of 23rd Street Past. This looks to be the same chef that had a hand in the former Alley Cafe/Rew Orleans/Alley Cafe Rew Orleans Cuisine/Alley Cafe Southern Cuisine saga that's been going on since 2018. https://www.okctalk.com/showthread.php?t=44212&highlight=rew+orleans

I would like for them to succeed, and I am hoping that though it's still on the menu, the muffaletta gets a new makeover. Remember this? 19081

Wow, somebody actually went!?

Also I was really excited until that connection was made.

Pete
02-28-2025, 09:56 AM
This place still hasn't opened; no idea if it ever will.